The art of tattooing has been known for a considerable period of time. Patents exist for tattooing apparatus predating this application by nearly a century; O'Reilly U.S. Patent No. 464,801 is an example. Only relatively recently, however, has it become recognized that tattooing may also be a source of disease through the use of unsterile equipment. The tattooing process has since become recognized as a vehicle for the spread of such diseases as serum hepatitis, and even more recently, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS.
The tattooing industry has suffered as a result of such discoveries, and although the vast majority of the industry attempts to provide sterile equipment, such equipment is complex and therefore difficult to sterilize. No patents of which the inventor is aware directly address this problem. While present equipment may be disposed of after a single use, thereby precluding any problems involving sterilization, the present materials and construction of such equipment make such a practice prohibitively costly. The need arises for relatively economical tattooing equipment which is assured to be sterile prior to use by means of sealed containers and holders, and materials and construction of which require disposal after a single use.